Rethink the Drink

WHY RETHINK THE DRINK MATTERS

More than 17 million barrels of oil are used each year to transport bottled water to our stores — enough to fuel 1.5 million vehicles for a year. Despite being recyclable, most bottled water is consumed ‘on the go’ and fewer than 30% of the bottles are recycled. The rest end up in landfills (30 million each day) or as trash in storm drains, watersheds, and the ocean. Bottled water production is also water intensive – it takes 3 liters of water to fill up a 1-liter bottle.

WHAT CEC IS DOING

CEC is providing hydration stations to regional schools so staff and students have free, cold, filtered water and can reduce the number of single use plastic water bottles consumed. The Rethink the Drink program also provides environmental education to all participating schools.

A counter on the stations displays the amount of bottles saved by refilling. As of June 2019, CEC has prevented more than four million plastic water bottles from being used.